I've recently gotten into a custom D&D-like role-playing campaign and have developed my character to be a quiet, contemplative rogue who has a backstory that mostly represents a lone wolf.
I've just finished up with my second session and I think the DM is getting the idea that I'm just a quiet person or that I'm zoning out during play. As we're playing over roll20.net and skype, it's a little harder to convey body language than I would prefer. I also find it difficult because the group seems to really enjoy talking in first person when they speak and/or describe their actions. I've considered the possibility of using more emotes (ie. "Character shifts his eyes towards the door", where Character is my character's actual name), but I'm not sure of the effectiveness.
The end result is that I think my character is the type of person who would prefer to stand in the shadows for a combat advantage over involving themselves in conversation but I think that directly conflicts with my personal goal of engaging the group.
How can I play my character so that he is both believable and adds value to the group?
Best Answer
When I've played (or joined in others playing) these quiet characters, the best way to run them is have an almost noir style internal monologue.
"I looked at the wall, and frowned. I wasn't certain, but there might be something behind it. Best not to mention it though, I'd look like a chump if I was wrong."
is much more interesting than.
"..."
Characters are always "talking." The trick is that quiet characters talk with their bodies and thoughts instead of their mouths. A lack of communication is a lack of communication. A lack of talking merely presupposes other forms of communication.
It's important not to be passive aggressive with this, as you need to be able to engage in what amounts to dialogue with your body language (a passive aggressive version would be to "transmit only"). But so long as you embody "communicating without talking" you'll be no more passive aggressive than the character would normally be.
Think of the group's "awareness" of people like a spotlight. In a good group, most people will share the spotlight to whatever degree they're comfortable with. Just like on stage, to communicate, you don't have to speak when in the spotlight, but you do need to actively control when it shines on you.
You may also want to read Making the Tough Decisions. While it's possible to make lone wolf characters, a group narrative doesn't support them particularly well. There are all sorts of tropes that aren't appropriate for certain genres of games, and the lone-wolf-in-a-group... is likely one of them. Pulling off the lone wolf with adequate spotlight control is a challenging activity that I wouldn't enter into lightly. Make sure your game welcomes deep character studies that explore the inner motivations of characters.